In Our Pond

I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The recipe blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the road trip recipes post.

Wikimedia Commons This was our last official week of Mommy School, but we didn't actually do anything related to our theme.  So, here's what we did and a bunch of ideas for a frog-themed homeschool week. When we arrived home, our yard was filled with dandelion poofs.  I sent Tadpole out in the yard with a pair of children's (blunt) scissors to cut their heads off.  He happily attacked them, sometimes recklessly and sometimes with more concentration.  When he got tried of that game, he I spent most of the week blogging and putting things back together.  The kids spent it playing and napping.  They're so excited to be home where they can go outside whenever they'd like and can yell and stomp in the house if they want (not in a hotel anymore).  We also reflected on our trip and talked about what we wanted to learn more about from the things we saw. Blog Posts About Frogs - Lily Pad Skip Counting Gross Motor Skills Activity - e is for eggs (year 2)

I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The Oregon Coast blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA .  Click on the Picture to visit the post.

I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The recipe blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the road trip recipes post.

/> Safari Ltd has released the Antarctic Animals toob  this year.  This toob has a lot more variety than the penguins toob and includes birds, pinnipeds, and whales.  The animals will be great for sorting between land, sky, and water, sorting by type, and practicing reading (traditional 3-part cards use).  As with every toob, the figurines make great sensory bin toys and can be played with in wet, dry, or messy materials. > > > Click here to Download the Printable > > > Antarctica Food Chain Antarctica Transportation Penguin Measuring Activity If you loved this printable, check out all my others by clicking on the picture below! Here are some great books to help you learn more! Pin It!

Wikimedia Commons This was a short, strange week, because of our beach vacation, but we were able to squeeze in a bit of #howisafari spider fun.  The Hidden Kingdom Black Widow Spider  was so detailed that we were able to use it to learn the parts of the spider.  The kids loved pointing out the spinnerets and counting the legs.  We watched a very interesting video about spiders called "Science Time" (linked below).  We hardly touched on spiders at all, so I'm sure we'll have to come back to them soon. The week began with Mother's Day.  Dragonfly (age 5) painted this flower pot for Grandma.  She picked the colors and mixed the blue with white to get a lighter shade.  Then, we added the kids thumbprints to the pot to make flowers.  Each kid had their own color.  I painted the grass and stems on.  We got to hand-deliver this present on our road trip. I had brought the carseats into the house as part of our pre-trip preparations.  The kids love

I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content that I decided to move all of it to its own blog.  The Moana Flash Cards blog post is now at my new site- Party Through the USA. Click on the picture to go to the Moana post.

We took a vote and the insect that the kids wanted to focus on this week was bees!  I love bees and they inspire me to do lots of free printables.  All week, I've been posting new themed ones.  You can find them here: Monday-  Teen Numbers Board Tuesday-  Travel Time Tuesday Wednesday- Life Cycle Cards Thursday- Hive Moveable Alphabet Friday- Counting and Addition Cards Monday It was beautiful today, so we went to the park.  It was our first visit of the year, and it was fun to watch how they've grown over the summer.  Skimmer (age 4.5) climbed all the way to the top of the play structure without help.  Then, he got himself back down without getting hurt, an even greater feat.  He also did about half of the monkey bars (with a spotter). Tadpole did very well at the playground as well.  He kept wanting to be barefoot and coming to me to get his shoes off.  Then, he'd play awhile before returning for his shoes.  I think we'll get a lot braver

Wikimedia Commons This is my last set of printables for bee week!  There is one set of larger bee counting cards, one set of larger bee addition cards (facts to 10), and smaller sets of both.  We used bee buttons as counters, but this would also be a great activity for Safari's Good Luck Mini bees . Free Printables: Large Bee Counting Cards Large Bee Addition Cards Small Bee Counting and Addition Cards An InLinkz Link-up

Continuing my Bee themed printables for the week, here is a hive shaped movable alphabet.  Enjoy! > > > Click Here for Movable Alphabet Cards  < < < As I was putting the bee materials together for this week of Mommy School, I decided that we also needed some spelling cards.  These words use only one set of "bee" letters and spell the basic concepts related to honey bees.  There are seven cards total, ranging from four to five letters each.  Each card is also accompanied by a picture for clarification.  Happy spelling! > > >  Click Here for Hive Spelling Cards  < < < /> An InLinkz Link-up

There are many, many bee life cycle cards on the internet, but I never ran across one that used real pictures.  When I came across these amazing pictures on Commons Wikimedia, I knew I had to add a set of life cycle 3-part cards to my bee week printables. These life cycle cards pair perfectly with the Safari Ltd Bee Set.  We have loved the set for a few years, but the figurines took on new meaning this year when we added these cards.  I also highly recommend this honey bee life cycle specimen block , which shows every stage and several other pieces.  Both sets showcase the bee's life in a way that children can see and understand. Books About Bees: > > >  Click Here to Download the Printable  < < < Reminder- this printable is only available for newsletter subscribers! Sign up below to get access to the entire resource library! Random Honey Bee Fact: Bees gather nectar from flowers and bring it back to the hive.  There, ot

I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content that I decided to move all of it to its own blog.  The Moana Road Trip blog post is now at my new site- Party Through the USA. Click on the picture to go to the Moana post. Disney

bees from Wikimedia Commons It's bee week!  All this week, I'll be sharing fun, Montessori-inspired honey bee printables!  I've been having so much fun making them.  I hope you enjoy using them. Today's printable is a Montessori-style Teen Board, a math game to show how teen numbers are created.  The child goes through the numbers 0-9, working each number separately in order.  They use the blank circle and the bee counters to work the math problem of 10+0 to 10+9.  As they work the problems, the child can begin to fill in the teen chart starting with 10 and working until 19.  The task is finished with the chart is completely filled out. > > >  Click Here for Bee Teen Board  < < < bees from Wikimedia Commons Random Honey Bee Fact: Bees have 5 eyes- 2 compound eyes on each side of their head and 3 small ocelli eyes in the middle of their head. An InLinkz Link-up